Chapter XII. The Church in Missouri

Theme of the Gathering. Inauguration of the Persecutions. A Marvelous Episode. Terrible Words to Zion. The Place of Promise. Judgment at the House of the Lord. Introduction of Brigham Young and others. Current Events.

BRIGHAM YOUNG AND OTHERS CURRENT EVENTS.

The historic importance of the Church was now turning- towards Missouri. Ohio was the first ofathering place of the saints, and Kirtland the spot where the first temple was to be reared to Jehovah's name ; but Missouri was the State where Zion with its grand temple of the dispensation loomed up in the vision of the future.

Already, as we have seen, had some of the saints migrated into Missouri. Zion's cords were lengthening and her stakes multiplying.

At this juncture a letter was received by the Prophet, from certain of the brethren, reporting their safe arrival at Independence, Missouri, with their printing press, and accompanying the letter was the prospectus of a monthly paper, called the Evening and Morning Star, — W. W. Phelps, editor. It being the first periodical published by the Church, the opening passage of this prospectus (which was

very much like an apostolic proclamation to all the world) will have a special historic interest. It reads: " As the forerunner of the night of the end, and the messenger of the day of redemption, the Star will borrow its light from sacred sources, and be devoted to the revelations of God as made known to his servants by the Holy Ghost, at sundry times, since the creation of man, but more especially in these last days, for the restoration of the house of Israel. We rejoice much because God has been so mindful of his promise, as again to send into this world the Holy Ghost, whereby we are enabled to know the right way to holiness ; and, furthermore, to prove all doctrines, whether they be of God or man, for there can be but one, as Christ and the Father are one. All of us know, or ought to, that our Heavenly Father, out of all the peoples which he had planted on the earth, chose but one people, to whom he gave his laws, his revelations, and his commandments, and this was Jacob his chosen and Israel his elect. All know, too, or might, that for disobedience, or not keeping his commandments to do them, God had this people carried away captive into all countries and scattered among all nations, but promised that he would gather them and bring them again unto their own lands ; then the land should yield its increase, and at that time he would take away the stony heart and give them a heart of flesh, and write his law in it, that all might know him from the least of them to the greatest of them : so that the knowledge of him might fill the whole earth, as the waters cover the sea. At which time it shall no more be said, the Lord liveth that

brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them. And it shall come to pass in the last days, the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths : for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in that day, the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."

This will illustrate the view that the gathering of the saints was assuming that grand Israelitish swell which has since characterized all the migrations of the Mormon people. It was the gathering together of Israel in the last days, — not the mere migration of adventurous Americans ; and the glorious themes of the Prophets of ancient Israel inspired the movement.

But the sunlit sky of prosperity was about to be overcast with the dark clouds of persecution. The reign of mobocracy was near. Its opening was quite dramatic, also, while Joseph and Sidney were prominent

in the first act of what, before the close, became a series of terrible tragedies. Of this first scene Joseph says :

" Before going to Hiram, to live with father Johnson, my wife had taken two children (twins), of John Murdock, to bring up. She received them when only nine days old, and they were now nearly eleven months. I would remark that nothing of importance had occurred since I came there, except that I had held meetings on the Sabbath and evenings, and baptized a number. .

"On the 25th of March (the twins having been sick of the measles for some time), in the evening, I told my wife to retire to bed with one of the children, and I would watch with the sickest one. In the nieht she told me I had better lie down on the trundle bed, and I did so, and was soon after awakened by her screaming 'murder!' when I found myself going out of the door, in the hands of about a dozen men, some of whose hands were in my hair, and some having hold of my shirt, drawers, and limbs. I made a desperate struggle, as I was forced out, to extricate myself, but only cleared one leg, with which I made a pass at one man, and he fell on the doorsteps. But I was immediately confined again, and remained quiet, under their threat to kill me if I did not keep still.

" They then seized me by the throat, and held on till I lost my breath. After I came to, as they passed along with me, about thirty rods from the house, I saw elder Ridon stretched out on the ground, whither they had dragged him by the heels. I supposed he was dead.

" After they had carried me about thirty rods farther they stopped, and while some held me, the others withdrew a little distance and held a council. As I heard an occasional remark, I gleaned the fact that they were discussing the propriety of killing me. They returned after awhile, and with many oaths tore off. my shirt and drawers, and one of them attempted to force a paddle of tar into my mouth, but I turned my head and avoided it. They then tried to force a vial into my mouth, and broke it in my teeth. Then one of them fell on me and scratched my naked body with his nails, like a mad cat, muttering, ' G d ye, that's the way the

Holy Ghost falls on folks.'

" They then left me, and after freeing my mouth from the tar so I could breathe more freely, I made my way back to the house, when a blanket was thrown to me, and I went in.

" Father Johnson, in attempting to rescue elder Rigdon, was severely injured; and elder Rigdon, who had been dragged by the heels with his head upon the frozen ground, was delirious for several days. The feathers, which were used with the tar, were taken from elder Rigdon's house.

" My friends spent the night in scraping and removing the tar, and washing and cleansing my body, so that by morning I was ready to be clothed again. This being Sabbath morning, the people assembled for meeting at the usual hour. With my flesh all scarified and defaced, I preached to the congregation as usual, and in the afternoon of the same day baptized three individuals."

The narrative further relates that during- the

mobbing one of the sick children caught a cold, from which it shortly after died. The mob was led by a Campbellite minister by the name of Rider, and was mostly composed of professors of religion

In order to avoid further mobbing, Joseph shortly after fled by the most expeditious route to a point named Warren, where he was joined by elder Rigdon, and they journeyed thence together to Wheeling, Va. Taking steamer, from there they went to St. Louis, and thence to Independence, Mo., where they arrived on the 24th of April, " finding the brethren generally enjoying health and faith, and extremely glad to welcome us among them.'

It may have been noticed how democratic in form and action was the Latter-day Church in its rise; for notwithstanding Joseph, and Oliver Cowdery, had been ordained by the angels, at the organization of the Church they were chosen by the vote of the members and formally re-ordained. In keeping with this was the following event :

"On the 26th," says Joseph, " I called a general council of the Church, and was acknowledged as the president of the High Priesthood, according to a previous ordination at a conference of High Priests, elders and members, held at Amherst, Ohio, on the 25th of Jan. 1832. The right hand of fellowship was given to me by the bishop, Edward Partridge, in behalf of the Church. The scene was solemn, impressive, and delightful.

" On the 27th we transacted considerable business for the salvation of the saints, who were settling among a ferocious set of mobbers, like lambs among

wolves. It was my endeavor to so organize the Church that the brethren might eventually be independent of every incumbrance beneath the celestial kingdom, by bonds and covenants of mutual friendship and mutual love.

" On the 6th of May I gave the parting hand to the brethren in Independence, and, in company with brothers Rigdonand Whitney, commenced a return to Kirtland, by stage to St. Louis, thence to Vincennes, Ind., thence to New Albany, near the falls of the Ohio."

Before reaching the latter point their horses ran away, and in their efforts to escape from the coach Mr. Whitney was so unfortunate as to sustain a compound fracture of the bones of one of his limbs. He was thereby detained four weeks at a public house, and Joseph remained to nurse him, while elder Rigdon went forward to Kirtland.

Here occurred quite a marvelous episode. The Anti-Mormons, it appears, attempted to poison the Prophet, as a means of cruelly testing whether the "signs" followed the Mormons. Joseph says:

" One day, when I arose from the dinner table, I walked directly to the door and commenced vomiting most profusely. I raised large quantities of blood and poisonous matter, and so great were the contortions of my muscular system, that my jaw was dislocated in a few moments. This I succeeded in replacing with my own hands, and I then made my way to brother Whitney (who was on his bed), as speedily as possible. He laid his hands on me, and administered in the name of the Lord, and I was healed in an instant, although the effect of the

poison had been so powerful as to cause much of the hair to become loosened from my head."

Thus was Joseph saved from poison by the power of the gospel, according to the promise : " If they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them." Elder Whitney having sufficiently recovered, they shortly after journeyed forward to Kirtland, where they arrived in June.

Towards the close of September, 1832, the elders besran to return from their missions to the Eastern States. The Prophet continued the translation of the Scriptures, and the oversight of the Church at Kirtland, during the Fall, excepting the time required for a rapid journey to Albany, New York and Boston, in company with bishop Whitney, from which he returned on the 6th of November, when he first saw his son Joseph, who had been born on the 3d.

After his return the Prophet received several of his most important revelations, which developed his mission, and enlarged the views of the disciples concerning the Latter-day work.

At the opening of the year 1833, Joseph began to warn Zion, in Missouri, of the coming day of trouble. ''I am not in the habit," he wrote, "of crying peace, when there is no peace ; and, knowing the threatened judgments of God, I say, Woe unto them who are at ease in Zion ; fearfulness will speedily lay hold of the hypocrite."

Next was sent an epistle, headed, " From a conference of twelve high priests, to the Bishop, his Council, and the inhabitants of Zion," urging them to repent, for the Prophet in his epistle to them had

pronounced the Lord's favor towards Kirtland, but terrible words to Zion:

" We have the satisfaction of knowing that the Lord approves of us, and has accepted us, and established his name in Kirtland for the salvation of the nations ; for the Lord will have a place whence his word will go forth, in these last days, in purity; for if Zion will not purify herself, so as to be approved of in all things in his sight, he will seek another people ; for his work will go on until Israel is gathered, and they who will not hear his voice, must expect to feel his wrath. Let me say unto you, seek to purify yourselves, and also all the inhabitants of Zion, lest the Lord's anger be kindled to fierceness. Repent, repent, is the voice of God to Zion ; and strange as it may appear, yet it is true, mankind will persist in self-justification until all their iniquity is exposed, and their character past being redeemed, and that which is treasured up in their hearts be exposed to the gaze of mankind. I say to you (and what I say to you I say to all), hear the warning- voice of God, lest Zion fall, and the Lord swear in his wrath the inhabitants of Zion shall not enter into my rest.

" The brethren in Kirtland pray for you unceasingly, for, knowing the terrors of the Lord, they greatly fear for you. You will see that the Lord commanded us, in Kirtland, to build a house of God, and establish a school for the Prophets: this is the word of the Lord to us, and we must, yea, the Lord helping us, we will obey ; as on conditions of our obedience he has promised us great things ; yea,

even a visit from the heavens to honor us with his own presence."

Just here it will be well to correct a very general misstatement of Anti-Mormon writers. They have said that the Prophet now chose one place for Zion and now another, and that all of his prophecies concerning her and her location signally fell to the ground. But the reverse of this is the actual fact.

To this day the Mormons have never looked upon but one spot as that whereon Zion of the Latter-days is to be built, namely, in Jackson County, Missouri. And as we here see, Joseph, from the earliest period, clearly indicated by prophecy that the saints of that generation were not the ones who should rear the holy city (though the promise was that the generation should not all pass away before her glory came). But Zion was in danger of being rejected for a season even then. To not many of that generation seemed to have appertained the promise of entering into her rest and glory.

Zion was the city of the future! The elect only were to be her inhabitants. They should be a tried people, and the day of Zion's rise was to be the day of triumph and consummation, not the day of probation and scourging.

" When the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appear in his glory."

Therefore Kirtland was the place chosen where the first temple was to be built and the apostles endowed and sent forth to the nations. Yet did the Lord cause the corner stones of Zion to be laid,

in the Prophet's lifetime, and the gathering of the people to Missouri in the progress of their growth was a prophecy of events in the coming times.

Nor let it be thought that the oratherinor to Missouri was without purpose and results. The verydestiny of the saints shows that they were to be driven from State to State, and finally to the Rocky Mountains, from which the " Kingdom of God" was to roll, as the little stone cut out of the mountain. After that Zion is to arise in her strength, in the place of promise, and all nations shall see in her the glory of her God.

But "judgment" was about to "begin at the house of the Lord," and that was in the place where Zion is to be built. It commenced in Jackson County, Missouri !

The diary of Joseph continues, relating that on the 26th of February a special council of high priests was held in Zion for the purpose of considering the above mentioned epistle, at which a return epistle was duly drafted. And on account of said admonitory epistle from Joseph, a solemn assembly was called in Zion, and a sincere and humble repentance was manifested.

In the month of April following, the first regular mob gathered against the saints in Missouri. They came together in Independence, to the number of about three hundred, but failing to unite upon any regular plan, they finally broke up in disorder and retired.

"July 13th," says Joseph, "a council of elders, namely, "G. H. Carter, Jacob Wood, Dennis Lake, Brigham Young, James Lake, N. R. Whitney, John

Smith, Luke Johnson, with myself, assembled in Kirtland."

This being the first time the name of Brigham Young occurs in the diary of Joseph, we deem it proper to here sketch the commencement of the connection of himself and Heber C. Kimball with the Latter-day Church. It opens with his brother, Phineas Young, who says:

"In April, 1830, as I was on my way home from the town of Lima, where I had been to preach, I stopped at the house of a man by the name of Tomlinson. While engaged in conversation with the family, a young man came in, and, walking across the room to where I was sitting, held a book towards me, saying, 'There is a book, sir, I wish you to read.' The thing appeared so novel to me that for a moment I hesitated, saying, ' Pray, sir, what book have you ? ' ' The Book of Mormon, or, as it is called by some, the Golden Bible.' ' Ah, sir, then it purports to be a revelation ?' 'Yes,' said he, 'it is a revelation from God.'

"This language seemed to me very strange, and, I thought, rather ridiculous. However, I thought it my duty to read it, and search out the errors, and, as a teacher in Israel, expose such errors and save the people from delusion. I commenced and read every word in the book the same week. The week following I did the same, but, to my surprise, I could not find the errors I anticipated, but felt a conviction that the book was true."

Phineas thereupon became a zealous advocate of the new faith, and brought the Book of Mormon to the attention of his father, brothers and sister.

In the life of Brigham Young it is recorded that in the Spring of 1830 he first saw the Book of Mormon, which was left with his brother Phineas by Samuel H. Smith, brother of the Prophet. And in April, 1832, he was baptized and ordained an elder in the Church. Shortly thereafter, with his brother Joseph, and Heber C. Kimball, he started for Kirtland to see the Prophet. Arriving at Kirtland, they found him, with several of his brethren, in the woods chopping and hauling wood. " Here," says Brigham, " my joy was full at the privilege of shaking the hand of the Prophet of God, and receiving the sure testimony by the spirit of prophecy that he was all that any man could believe him to be, as a true Prophet. He was happy to see us, and bid us welcome. In the evening a few of the brethren came in, and we conversed together upon the things of the kingdom. He called upon me to pray. In my prayer I spoke in tongues. As soon as we arose from our knees the brethren flocked around him, and asked his opinion concerning the gift of tongues that was upon me. He told them it was the pure Adamic language. Some said to him they expected he would condemn the gift, but he said, ' No; it is of God.'"

It was at about this date, or within the next three years, that the men entered the Church who have since been its pillars, although the Pratts, Oliver Cowdery, and the other witnesses of the Book of Mormon, Sidney Rigdon and Bishops Partridge and Whitney were, with Joseph, the founders of the Church, while John Taylor and a few others, who have since taken apostolic and presiding rank, came

in at about the close of the first seven years, and in the period of the rise of Nauvoo.

We must pass over the history of the early persecutions in Missouri, including the semi-military episode of a company of elders, under the Prophet, known as " Zion's Camp," going up to Missouri to help the inhabitants of Zion, for this belongs rather to Church history than to the personal mission of Joseph, and it would of itself form a volume.

Hasten we now to the calling of the Twelve Apostles to preach the gospel to all nations; the further unfolding of the dispensation and its "everlasting covenant ;" the Temple, the Priesthood, and the wondrous themes which Joseph, as the oracle of God, from time to time, revealed to a latter-day Israel.